#51 - 1000 Awesome Things

Family Traditions

You guys know I come from a fairly eccentric religious background, right? I'm Jewish, but not everyone in my family is, and we have been known to celebrate Christmas right along with Hanukkah (in a secular way - Santa and a tree, but no creche or midnight mass). At any rate we have a somewhat mixed bag of annual traditions: Grammy Boo cooks Thanksgiving in a BIG way - even though the crowd is much smaller these days, she still makes a 20 pound turkey! Grandma hosts "walk around the table," a smorgasbord of appetizers on Christmas Eve, and Christmas starts with a big bagel breakfast with Grandpa.

But Passover? For the second time, Mommy hosted our Seder last night.


Mommy loves Passover. Not the week-long no bread/pasta part - we do love carbs - but the Seder? It's one of her favorite holidays. She loves pulling down the special china and silverware, and remembering friends and family who gave her each piece: the silverware chest from her college roommate, the sugar bowl from her former students... She loves the formality of setting our dining room table (and the kitchen table added to the end for more space!) and folding the cloth napkins into Jewish stars.

She loves the ceremony of reading the Haggadah, and adding our own special touches: the tale of the exodus sung to the tune of "Gilligan's Island," going around the table trying to read the longest phrases of "Who knows one?" all in one breathe... She can't wait for me to be old enough to read the 4 questions (Aunt Rebecca probably won't mind that, either) and to search for the Afikomen. She looks forward to felt matzah covers made in Hebrew school with glitter glue.

Usually the items I choose for my "Awesome" posts are things that *I* love, and I could tell you that I love sharing the big meal (brisket! matzah ball soup! stuffed cabbage!) with my family, but, really, I woke up grumpy from my nap yesterday and never quite made it into the holiday mood. I am, however, enjoying the Toy Story sticker book that Mommy got me to try to keep my attention during the Seder, and my yummy leftovers!

Chag Sameach!